Flickering Flames

So, the boyfriend was visiting again. (Note my complete and total lack of LJ'ing. Not all his fault, though -- I was doing work-from-home and so avoiding the painfully slow even over corporate T3 lines tasks that I normally visit LJ during -- like the one I'm running now.) At one point, I discovered him disposing of items (in this case, Q-Tips) by flushing them down the toilet, prompting a lecture on the difference between pipes in an older residential home, and pipes in a brand new apartment complex. Complete with hand gestures.

Not saying it was because of that, but... Monday night, when I got home from work, I discovered that my basement had a lake in it. A somewhat soapy lake. This is not a good sign. Rain- or groundwater seepage is rarely if ever soapy. So I look at the rafters. No sign of water leakage. I look at the laundry tub. It is dry, but the bottom is covered in a layer of ... well, you can guess. I ran some water into it, and the smell was unmistakable. :*(

Washed that out, using hot water and bleach. Ran the upstairs shower, flushed the toilet... no problem. Continued running the shower, ran the kitchen sink, flushed the toilet again... water began filling up the laundry tub. Turned off all the water... water continued filling the laundry tub, as it worked its way through all the pipes. And then gradually subsiding as the water drained out of the tub through the main line.

A textbook example of a partial blockage in the main line between house and city sewer. Called Roto-Rooter, and they wanted $248 to come fix it. So called Mr. Rooter, and they did it for $184. The guy ran the super-duper steel snake down the main line, said he felt something that felt like tree roots, and then said the line was clear, and opened the floor drain to empty my lake.

At which point, he treated me to the totally cool special service they offered. A drain cam! Basically a flashlight/digital camera combo at the end of a snake, they lower the thing into the drain, and you get a full color image of your entire drain! (Wisely, they only do this AFTER they've scoured it clean.)

The first interesting thing was the water in the drain... water running IN from a hole in the side. Which would explain why my drains run slower when it's raining. The pipe's already partially filled with groundwater. There were also a number of places where the pipe was broken, or missing small pieces. In one spot, the floor of the pipe was in the process of ripping up. But the problem was finally located almost all the way to the street... there was a sizeable section of pipe missing, and it was starting to press inward on the pipe. There were also severed tree roots in that section... the roots that had caused the blockage.

I was concerned that this meant the pipe would need to be replaced. But he said it was probably good for at least another ten years, just getting it roto-cleared every three or four years or so.

So, that's my excitement lately. What have you all been up to?

I found the most WONDERFUL product in the grocery store -- Namaste rice flour pizza dough mix. It is sugar-free, as well as being free of gluten, wheat, soy, nuts, potato, corn, and dairy. Just mix with water and olive oil, bake, and voila! A pizza crust, ready to add your favorite toppings. I tried a simple red-pepper on mozzarella and sauce pizza. It was YUMMY! Not the best pizza crust ever, not by a long shot, but it tasted like REAL pizza crust, not these fake "we'll call it pizza but it tastes nothing like it" crusts.

I'm hosting a cookout tonight for game night. It started because the boytoy had never had a spiedie, and we decided to grill some for him. From there, it was a natural jump to grilling enough for all the gamers to eat. The next jump... well, it was probably inevitable. :-) I went a little crazy at the grocery store -- 2 lbs of beef, 7 chicken breasts, salad, fruit, two six-packs of Steaz soda, paper and plastic goods... The total came to just over $100! (Well, some of that was just regular groceries, too.) But I entertain so rarely. I had no idea how much of stuff to buy. I anticipate eating a LOT of leftovers next week. lol. Plus, how could I resist the chance to make it all look pretty? I mean, sure, I could get a 50-pack of plain white paper plates, but how much nicer to get spring stripes square paper plates, for the happy and festive look! Not to mention the melanine serving dishes shaped like butterflies or flowers.

Now, I just have to get everything set up...

The Romance Studio gave Summon the Masters Five Hearts:

"Giacomo has been trapped in Dante’s world doing penance for killing a man in a fit of anger. When Samantha finds a book about domination and submission she unwittingly frees him. He must be her Master and find a way to bring her to ultimate pleasure if he wants to win back his life in Jennifer Dunne’s Life Sentence."

"These stories are set in widely diverse places with a common theme involving the pleasure the couples find using bondage and domination/submission. Each character is lovingly crafted by the authors. Wit, dialogue and artistic use of words to paint the scenes are common threads throughout all to make this an excellent collection."

Here's a YouTube video of the Fairy Ball costume competition. It starts in mid-competition, with MY walk across the stage. Or rather, my walk to mid-stage, bow to the judges, bow to the audience, get tangled up in a cover model, get confused, and walk off the wrong way. Whoops. :-) But you can see my brightly colored sparkly mermaid self.

And here's a link to Bonnie Vanak's blog, where she discovers the nature of a yeep, and is suitably stunned. Also referencing mermaids, because it was the night of the Under the Sea ball.

Home from the Romantic Times convention. It was ... interesting. ( Con report )

edited to add: Duh! How could I leave off Anya's lj id? Fixed now. And check out her photo of the karaoke.

The Schwartz Report had an interesting article today. Reviewing a book, Shock Doctrine, that purports to expose the secret cabal of multinational corporations that is trying to remake the world in a profitable image, he felt compelled to analyze positive social changes. Aside from discovering that virtually every major social progress in the US was spearheaded by a small group of Quakers, he came up with the following eight laws of positive social change:


Law Number One - The Individuals, individually, and the group, collectively, must share a common intention.

Law Number Two - The individuals and the group may have goals, but they may not have cherished outcomes.

Law Number 3 - The individuals in the group must accept that their goal may not be reached in their lifetimes, and be O.K. with that.

Law Number 4 - The individuals in the group must accept that they may not get either credit or acknowledgment for what they have done, and be authentically O.K. about this.

Law Number 5 - Each person in the group regardless of gender, religion, race, or culture must enjoy fundamental equality even as the various roles in the hierarchy of the effort are respected.

Law Number 6 - The individuals in the group must foreswear violence in word, act… or thought.

Law Number 7 - The individuals in the group must make their private selves consistent with their public postures.

Law Number 8 - The individuals in the group, and the group collectively, must always act from the 'beingness' of life-affirming integrity.

Because all the cool kids are doing it....

( what I wrote, when, and how long before it got published )

This doesn't count the book proposals, essays, or short stories that I've written, only completed works of at least novella length.

Over the past few days, Spring has arrived with a vengeance. It's been in the 60's, sunny, and moreover, the air *feels* like Spring, having lost any last little trace of chill radiating from the ground/buildings.

My garden has reacted in abundance. The miniature iris are already in full bloom. The love in the mist (at least that's my guess what they are -- they look like some variety of allium, but they self-seed, rather than grow from bulbs) are showing color, but have not yet unfurled their petals. And the daffodils (or rather, narcissus) and tulips have about 2" of leaves showing. The regular iris are just behind them. (Tonight when I get home, I'll spray them with the onion/garlic mixture that will keep the bunnies from eating the flowers.)

Then there are the mystery plants. (Now you understand the mystery of the love in the mist.) Something is coming up among the mounds of grape hyacinth. Did I put daylilies there last year? Something is sending up shoots around the yarrow. It doesn't look like more daffodils. So what *did* I put there? And there's something sprouting from rhyzomes next to the miniature roses, where the daisies and gailardia normally grow. Rhyzomes? I don't remember planting rhyzomes last fall.

I have to place my orders with the flower companies soon, or it will be too late to get things for Spring planting. (I did order one thing, but I've already forgotten what...) The flowers are coming out in the front garden, with a few on the side. This year's projects will be in the back garden, underplanting the lilac trees.

Three years ago, there was a huge blow-up at Ellora's Cave. As part of this blow-up, numerous allegations were made, even more numerous rumors circulated as to the "truth" of the situation, and there was much shaking of fists and threatening of legal action.

Legal action has finally been taken -- by Crissy Brashear, against Tina Engler and Patty Marks, Ellora's Cave, and all related companies.

See the high-level review at Smart Bitches.

I bet I know what *the* topic of conversation at the Romantic Times convention NEXT WEEK will be!

I saw two movies last week, both of which were excellent.

Horton Hears a Who ... was charming, perfectly animated, with excellent voice actors... and was suprisingly subversive. A horde of blood-thirsty gorillas attacking in best pitchfork-waving-townsfolk mob-style, screaming, "Think of the children!" Oh, yeah, no sly and subtle message happening there. ;-)

21 ... had a few gaping plot holes, true. But it was a fast-paced, fun, and entertaining romp showing how math can beat the system! Well, they alluded to the fact that math could beat the system... wisely, they avoided actually burdening the audience with any of those icky math bits, even though some of us would've found them fascinating. Plus, the lead is absolutely adorable, and Kevin Spacey plays ice-cold villians that fool you into thinking they're cuddly better than anyone.

Yeah, I know, all around people are posting wacky and crazy things, hoping you'll fall for them. And here I have to go being a downer. Sorry 'bout that.

I haven't posted much lately, because my cat was dreadfully ill, and I was busy caring for her, rushing her to the vet's, the specialist, etc. She suffered a stroke, and had to be put to sleep on March 21, since she'd lost the use of her paws, and could no longer walk.

Best guess is that she'd had a mini-stroke earlier, in February, and that's when she started not eating. She perked up for the boyfriend visit -- who wouldn't want to indulge in 24x7 petting, brushing, and cuddling? -- but then got back to the serious business of wasting away. She was never a big cat, but at the time of her death, she weighed less than five pounds.

I'm picking up her ashes today.

Between then and now, I spent Easter at my parents', then a week in Colorado with the boyfriend. Met his family -- mom, sister, niece, nephew -- as well as best friend, godson, and former girlfriend. All of whom did their best to convince me I'd love moving to Colorado. :-) Denver is too big for me, but Boulder is nice, with plenty of space to breathe, and nearby Longmont is suitably scaled for a small-town girl like me...should such an eventuality come to pass. ;-) Of the five business deals the boyfriend has in progress, only two would require his presence in Boulder, one would involve significant time spent in Canada, and the other two are location-neutral. So there's no point trying to figure out how to be together, until we know where he's going to be, since it may make more sense for him to move to New York when his current lease expires. And in the meantime, we rack up the frequent flyer points.

If you haven't already watched Obama's latest speech, about race in America, go watch it. (It's on YouTube)

I think what most impressed me, and made me think, "Yeah, I want this guy to be my next president," was when he was talking about the feelings of anger among blacks, for generations of inequity they are still feeling the effects of...and then pointed out that this was no different than the anger felt by immigrants who worked hard to make a better life for their kids, only to see those kids denied the options other kids got, or the white families who saw the number of jobs dwindling or sent overseas and were powerless against the force of corporate greed. The anger is the same. And you can not address the anger by pretending it doesn't exist. Only by admitting that yes, there is a reason for the anger, can you use that anger to do something constructive, as a power for change, so that the coming generations do not have to suffer the same things.

The great synopsis posting event (see my entry) was created by jpsorrow in response to questions he was receiving regarding how and why an author should write a synopsis. Here are his original questions, along with my answers.

( Synopsis Q&A behind cut )

Today, a whole bunch of authors (see links at bottom of post) are going to be posting real examples of synopses that sold. I'm posting the synopsis of my first book, Raven's Heart (the story that was later rewritten/rereleased as Fugitive Lovers for Cerridwen Press). Interestingly, while searching through my records, I also found the version of the synopsis that DIDN'T sell (dated 1995, 3 years before Raven's Heart was released). The primary difference was the ending. See if you can figure out why the one book sold, and the other one didn't.

( Synopsis of Raven's Heart )


Now, compare the ending that didn't sell:
( original ending )


Plot Synopsis Project participant links:

Patricia Bray (pbray): http://www.sff.net/people/patriciabray/synopsis.html


Chaz Brenchley (desperance): http://desperance.livejournal.com


Mike Brotherton: http://www.mikebrotherton.com


Tobias Buckell: http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/02/01/ask-me-a-question-was-crystal-rain-sold-as-part-of-a-series/


S.C. Butler (scbutler): http://scbutler.livejournal.com


Barbara Campbell: www.barbara-campbell.com/inside.htm


David B. Coe (davidbcoe): http://davidbcoe.livejournal.com


Jennifer Dunne (jennifer_dunne): http://jennifer_dunne.livejournal.com


S.L. Farrell (sleigh): http://sleigh.livejournal.com


Diana Francis (difrancis): http://difrancis.livejournal.com

Gregory Frost frostokovich): http://frostokovich.livejournal.com


Felix Gilman: http://www.felixgilman.com/wordpress/


Jim C. Hines (jimhines): http://jimhines.livejournal.com


Jackie Kessler (jackiekessler): http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog


Mindy Klasky (mindyklasky): http://mindyklasky.livejournal.com


Misty Massey (madkestrel): http://madkestrel.livejournal.com


C.E. Murphy (mizkit): http://mizkit.livejournal.com


Naomi Novik(naominovik): http://naominovik.livejournal.com


Joshua Palmatier (jpsorrow): http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com


Maria V. Snyder: http://blog.myspace.com/mariavsnyder


Jennifer Stevenson (smokingpigeon): http://smokingpigeon.livejournal.com


Michelle West (msagara): http://msagara.livejournal.com


Sean Williams (ladnews): http://ladnews.livejournal.com


There’s also a book available that has other samples of plot synopses in it. It’s called I Have This Nifty Idea: Now What Do I Do With It? [Amazon; Mysterious Galaxy], edited by Mike Resnick. Check it out for more samples!

Lunacon was, as usual, fantastic. There was some confusion regarding moderation, where moderators changed between the preliminary and final program, and panelists who hadn't read the final program carefully enough missed that they were now moderating. (I was hit with this at 11pm Friday night, and the moderator of my 11pm Saturday night panel was also taken by surprise. Maybe the problem only occurred at 11pm panels?)

( Con report - panels )

But of most interest, to me at any rate, I got to play two new games demoed by their creators/sellers. Oh My God, There's an Axe In My Head! (hereafter referred to as Axe) and Glory to Rome (hereafter referred to as Rome).

( Con report - games )

Food service was abyssmally slow (25 minutes to get menus) but tasty, and every meal was with a gang of friends (often a slowly-alternating gang, so that by the time you left, half the dinner party consisted of people that hadn't been there when you sat down, while half of the ones who had been there were gone) so we didn't mind the waits too much. The hotel heating system appeared to be completely separate from the thermostat, so that ours pumped volcanic air into the room regardless of setting (unless we turned it off completely), while Josh's pumped arctic air into his room, forcing him to try and use steam heating from his shower. There was also a leak somewhere near the fire doors so that the damp spot on the hall carpeting Friday night grew to become a small lake spanning wall to wall and extending for about five feet that we had to splash through on Sunday.

ETA: Title, which LJ ate when it reposted from draft

Dolphin rescues two beached whales

The people tried for an hour and a half to refloat the whales. The dolphin shoved the people aside, and managed to rescue the whales in a few minutes.

Here are the photos jpsorrow took at game night a few weekends ago. He wanted photographic proof that my boyfriend actually existed.

Please ignore the photo of me doing a chipmunk immitation. :-)

Also, this weekend, pbray and I went to see Irish music group Lunasa perform at the Night Eagle cafe in Binghamton. The frontman was a great entertainer, and they were all extremely talented musicians. Since we sat right next to the stage, we could see how extremely talented. (Like the bagpipe that was played by coordinating the pumping of your elbow, the fingering of both hands, raising and lowering the chanter against your leg, and playing chords on the body of the bag with the heel of your hand... or the guitarist that was counting time with his right leg while counting double-time with his left leg, all while playing classical plucked guitar melodies that would make Santana weep for joy... not to mention the sounds I didn't know were even POSSIBLE with a flute) I still prefer music with words to it, but for music without words, this was pretty darn good stuff.

ETA: Fixed Tricia's lj name, because for some reason, I used her IM name by mistake.

And so, Honeybear's first visit to exciting upstate New York is over. I kept threatening to take him to visit an alpaca farm. (We have 17 in the area.) Instead we:

• Visited Ithaca and hiked out to Taughonnac(sp?) Falls
  
• Ate lunch at Moosewood
  
• Played Ticket to Ride...a lot :-)
  
• Played Bohnanza and Cranium with the gaming group
  
• Read a bunch of books about Trading, including The Way of the Turtle and Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom
  
• Developed ideas for a series of children's books
  
• Researched agents for his business/finance book
  
• Watched the Sarah Conner Chronicles on TV
  
• Watched a DVD of Catch Me If You Can
  
• Had dinner with pbray at The Lost Dog in Binghamton
  
• Had lunch with my parents at Christopher's in Oneonta

( More details below the cut )

All of which hopefully explains why you haven't heard much from me the last week. I've been BUSY. ;-)

Here's my schedule for Lunacon.

Friday, March 14th
After Dark 10:00:00 PM - 11:00:00 PM Brundage A
Title: Sex Done Right
Description: The mechanics of writing and the mechanics of doing can be two very different things. From making sure no one accidentally winds up with three hands (species of that sort being a different matter entirely), to figuring out the logistics, rules or conventions of something you've never done, or simply understanding a gender other than your own, writing sex that's both hot and narratively relevant to your tale can be a challenge. Here, writers explain the how's and why's of including erotic elements in their work.
Participants: Leslie Ann Alpert, Jacqueline Carey, Jennifer Dunne, David Barr Kirtley, Racheline Maltese[M],

After Dark 11:00:00 PM - 12:00:00 AM Brundage A
Title: Bondage In Brundage
Description: How do you make sadomasochistic characters respectable? If you write about bondage, do you have to get all the knots right? How does polyamory work in fiction, as opposed to real life? A guide to everything a writer needs to know about alternative sexuality. Adults only.
Participants: Jennifer Dunne[M], Merav Hoffman, KT Pinto, Meredith Schwartz,

Saturday, March 15th
Literature 4:00:00 PM - 5:00:00 PM Bartell
Title: Mythologies for Storytellers
Description: After languishing in the shadows of their more famous brethren, other mythologies are finally beginning to get some attention, too. Trickster gods are out in force, whether it's Coyote of the Native Americans, Anansi of the West Africans, or Sun Wukong of the Chinese, and they show no signs of retreating. Authors and editors look at the trend of these alternate mythologies appearing in contemporary fiction.
Participants: Danielle Ackley-McPhail[M], Jennifer Dunne, Chuck Rothman, Josepha Sherman, Delia Sherman, Jane T. Sibley,

After Dark 11:00:00 PM - 12:00:00 AM Boton
Title: Sex Magick
Description: Many cultures and mythologies recognize the power of sex and sexuality as a force of transformation, for the giving (or stealing) of energies, and, of course, for creation. This panel will discuss the uses of sexuality as a magical catalyst in fiction, in history and folklore, and in contemporary practice. Adults Only
Participants: Jennifer Dunne, David Sklar,

Sunday, March 16th
Fandom 10:00:00 AM - 11:00:00 AM Odelle
Title: The Shame of 'Shipping
Description: We’ve all done it. At one time or another we’ve rooted for couples we know were hopeless, but we dared to dream. Panelists share their greatest heartbreaks and their unexpected rewards.
Participants: Kathleen O'Shea David, Jennifer Dunne, Jennifer Heddle, Toni Lay[M],

Okay, it's not exactly a princess dress... unless you consider movie starlets to be the modern equivalent. But my "Old Hollywood" gown arrived. And it is GORGEOUS.



I tried it on... and discovered it's impossible to attach the snap-in modesty panel on the back while wearing the dress, since the act of reaching back to get to it pulls everything out of alignment. So I laced up the dress, wrestled myself into it, and did manage to mostly tie the laces. Hopefully, my roommate at RT will be able to lace it up for me.

This is what the back looks like:


There was much swishing and swaying. It looks fantastic, and fantastic on me. Well worth the price.

We have a winner!

For anyone else thinking of buying a gown anytime soon, it came from Roxanne's Runway on eBay, and included the hanger and dress bag, and was wrapped in tissue paper. I'd recommend them as a source for discounted gowns.